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Briefing: 12 years to save our planet: the solutions to the climate crisis

A summary of the transformative change government must drive, and ways in which people can take action to align the UK to the 1.5°C Paris Climate Agreement.

Climate change is the biggest threat to humanity and we are already feeling its impacts. At just 1°C of warming above pre-industrial levels we are witnessing:

  • extreme weather events like the devastating hurricanes seen across the Caribbean and the USA.
  • floods sweeping through countries causing immense destruction.
  • droughts that have seen taps nearly run dry in Cape Town, South Africa.
  • heatwaves that scorch the earth, its wildlife and people.
  • rising sea levels that threaten islands and coastal regions.
  • damage to wildlife and precious ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef.
  • rapid melting of Arctic sea ice which speeds up climate change, and much more.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) makes it clear we must act to limit global warming to 1.5°C or we risk catastrophic climate change.[1] The IPCC also stated we have less than 12 years to do this. This is a clarion call for our movement and together we must rise to this challenge with renewed determination and energy.

The UK has a responsibility to act

The Paris Climate Agreement requires the world to reach net-zero1 greenhouse gas emissions within the second half of the century, with wealthier developed countries reaching this goal earlier.

[1] 1 Net zero means adding no more greenhouse gas emissions into the atmostphere than the amount being removed by carbon sinks.

The world’s richest 10% produce 50% of carbon emissions, compared to the poorest 50% of humanity who are responsible for just 10% of emissions. [2]

Download the 5-page Briefing or the more detailed 23 page ‘A pathway to ‘net zero’ greenhouse gas emissions.

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